I saw this after signing out of my hotmail account today.
I didn’t see any point in reading the article since I got so much joy out of the title.
We just got back from lunch at a place where we’ve only been to dinner. We had a coupon and who doesn’t like buy one get one free? The last two times we’ve been there we’ve been treated to insanity at other tables. The last time we were there I think a small child was celebrating his birthday. The child was 2 or 3 and it is possible that someone else at the table was celebrating. The child clearly said he wanted some cake but the other people at the table, all of them adults, spoke in such loud baby talk that I really am unsure of what was going on. The kid’s pronunciation was nearly flawless.
Today at lunch a family of four let their kids throw stuff on the floor and run around a bit. How old do kids have to be before the rest of us can enjoy our meal too? Then there was the guy who put ketchup on his steak and when the ketchup came out of the bottle it sounded like he blew his nose–all wet and viscous. He also spent quite a bit of time sounding like he was hocking up a loogy. I was so sad to see him leave.
So you don’t get the idea that we are always model citizens, the better-half acted like he was going to stab me in the head with a fork. I didn’t even notice (it happens so often that I am immune to it) but the waiter did and asked if he was going to have to break it up. I told him I had it under control and then acted like I was going to karate chop the better-half.
If you don’t like to cook, then I guess this week’s entries so far are boring you to tears. Sorry about that.
Sunday night we cut up pork chops into medallions. The better-half breaded and sauted the medallions. Then he made a sauce by deglazing the pan with red wine (shiraz?) and then built on the sauce from there with chicken broth, a little more flour, dried cherries, dried cranberries and golden raisins.
I cooked all day and all night to produce the polenta. Ok, what actually happened is I stepped into the pantry, grabbed the polenta, sliced it and then put it in the hot oven to bake. Then I sat down and had a glass of the red wine and talked to the better-half while he did all of the work.
We served with a salad which I did cut up and artfully arrange.
After drooling in my keyboard the other morning, I decided we had to try this dish. Since this is my last week with time on my hands, I thought I’d give this recipe a whirl during the week instead of waiting for the weekend.
Let me start by telling you all the things I didn’t/couldn’t do. I didn’t use all of the whole spices this recipe requires simply because I couldn’t track them down in my little town. I substituted with close approximations of dried ingredients. I couldn’t find the exact cut of lamb this recipe indicated and had to buy chops. I only started with 1.63 pounds and I trimmed out the bones so I’m really not sure how much meat I ended up with. I was too lazy to track down the kitchen scale.
I did use whole cloves, a cinnamon stick and peppercorns. I was warned about all the whole spices in this recipe by Deb over at In My Kitchen but I was already pretty sure that we’d have fewer whole spices in our version than she did. She has access to better shops than I do.
Even with all these exceptions, the dish started making us wish time would speed up as soon as I got to the simmer stage of the recipe. The house smelled super.
I made some basmati rice to go with the saag gosht. I soaked the rice and then steamed it until it was soft and fluffy.
The dish was delicious and we’re going to hold onto the recipe and make it again. Next time I’m in a specialty market, I’ll look for some of the whole spices. It will be interesting to see how this dish differs with the addition of whole spices.
Here’s our version of the saag gosht:
At the beginning of the year I had to buy a new alarm clock because the one I bought back in 1988 or 1989 died. It didn’t exactly stop working, but started gaining time. Like 45 minutes over the course of a week. It just isn’t funny when you think you are getting up at 6am and then you find out that you actually got up at 5:15 but you don’t know that until after you’ve had your shower and gotten dressed. There’s no going back to sleep after that. I’m not that sleep talented.
My criteria for the new clock was simple. I wanted an inexpensive clock with red numbers (the better-half has a clock with green numbers and they light up the night sky–he actually has to turn the clock face down) but no other fancy bells and whistles. I’m an alarm clock purist in that I just like to have an alarm wake me.
I found this clock and the price was mighty nice. I liked the fact that it had two choices of volume. Let me tell you, if you need to raise the dead in a cemetery fifty miles from your house, get this clock. It doesn’t matter if you have it set on the “Gentle” alarm volume this alarm clock will scare you out of bed every morning. Last night I cut up a greeting card into four pieces and taped those layers of paper over the speaker. It was still a frightening experience this morning. Note to self: when a product is called Super Loud, Timex isn’t kidding.
After eating breakfast this morning, the better-half and I sat at the kitchen table enjoying our coffee and looking out the window. I said, feeling a little glum, “I’m looking for turkeys, but there aren’t any”. And, not more than a few seconds later, I said “wait there are”. We got out the binoculars and watched a handful of turkeys have their morning meal.
There are several really awesome things about this little scene. We are lucky enough to have the means to eat whatever we want and as much as we want. We have a kitchen table (our other house had the world’s smallest kitchen) where we can sit and enjoy food and conversation. We own property that is perfect for animals and animal watching (semi-secluded, source of water, plenty of vegetation).
Since we’re going to see Elton John in a few weeks, I found an old tape (yeah, an actual tape) and let it pete and repeat a few times. I had so much fun listening to the old tape of EJ that I decided to look through some of the other tapes. I found one I made for the better-half. One side is The Best of Nina Simone (which I remember him asking me to copy from the CD I had) and the other side are love songs. Oh, my sweet lord, are they love songs. I was, apparently, sending a message.
I entitled that side of the tape “Might I but Moor“. Oh, good grief.
As a little background, the better-half and I had our first date the day before Thanksgiving 1992. I made this tape in late April 1993. Here’s what I included…
Lyle Lovett-She Makes Me Feel Good
Eric Clapton-Please Be With Me
Bonnie Raitt-Something To Talk About
INXS-By My Side
Sarah McLachlan-Into The Fire
The Waterboys-Whole Of The Moon
Sinead O’Connor-You Do Something To Me
Bob Marley-Stir It Up
Shawn Colvin-Object of My Affection
Mary-Chapin Carpenter-Right Now
Robbie Robertson-Day Of Reckoning (Burnin’ For You)
Robert Palmer-What A Little Moonlight Can Do
This morning we created a twist on the usual breakfast burritos. We created the burritos in the same way except I added some leftover white rice to the mix (we don’t always have that ingredient) and we made four burritos instead of the typical three. While we were getting coffee ready and the burritos were staying warm in the oven, we heated some salsa verde.
I sprinkled some shredded colby and monterey jack cheese on the burritos and then spooned on the salsa verde. It was lip-smacking delicious. The citrus and spicy flavor of the green sauce really worked well with the other ingredients.
This breakfast was huge and should tie us over until dinner. I’m not sure what we’re having yet but I’ve been very inspired to get out of our usual rut ever since we made those pasties.
I can’t decide if I’m getting a cold or if I’m under a sinus/allergy attack. Since my head is stuffed with so much stuff, I’m going to unload in a completely random fashion. If you can spot any reason why these things should be related, you get extra points.
Digging it:
A “He’s got a tattoo on his arm that says baby/he’s got another one that just says hey”
B “Liquid, melancholy dreams/Tell me what it means”
C The better-half ordering a chai tea and having the so-not-a-barista behind the counter say we only have chai tea latte and the better-half didn’t say well, duh. This happened weeks ago and it still makes me smile.
D Watching a squirrel climb up a shepard’s hook to eat out of a bird feeder and then watching the squirrel slide down the hook like a little stuffed fireman.
E Beef Lo mein and hot and sour soup.
Outside my window is an oak leaf rolled into a shape that resembles a chrysalis. It is attached to a tree by either the thinnest of branches or by a spider web. With the wind blowing, the leaf looks like a wind sock. When the leaf is vertical rather than horizontal to the ground it reminds me of one of the three wise men in my parent’s creche. The creche is old and fragile and the figures seem like they could crumble under their own weight.
